How volunteers nursed Demi back to health

A dog with a terrible skin condition picked up by rangers last October has made a remarkable recovery, thanks to a small army of community volunteers.

Demi was picked up in Tarcoola on October 19, suffering from a bad case of demodectic mange, and she was immediately rushed to a vet.

After four days in hospital and a few weeks of being impound, she was released in the care of Geraldton Dog Rescue who, with the support of local vets and dog washing businesses, were able to bring her back to a healthy condition.

Geraldton Dog Rescue president Lenci Millman said it was one of the worst cases of demodectic mange she’d ever seen.

“I have seen one other dog that extreme, a number of years ago, and that particular dog was really severely malnourished and had injuries and had to be euthanised,” she said.

“But there’s a good survival chance if they’re treated — general health wise they’re fine, their immune systems are a bit down but otherwise they aren’t doing too badly.

“They definitely need extensive treatment from the vet, they also need baths with a special shampoo three or four times a week.”

Ms Millman said Demi also needed antibiotics and constant visits to the vet, but the care required was mostly just labour intensive.

“For her we were putting moisturiser on her skin, using a coconut oil and we had her on a special diet,” she said.

Fortunately for Demi her long-time carer Melody Schofield adopted her and said she is well loved by her husband Don, daughter Coco and canine companion Dusty.

“It was love at first sight — she melted my heart, that’s for sure,” she said.

“We had to rub cream into her every day and bath her with malaseb wash every week, but it was obviously well and truly worth it.

“She will be on treatment for the rest of her life; she has to have a tablet every three months to make sure that the mites and mange stay away.”

Ms Schofield said despite her history, Demi’s behaviour was completely normal.

“She’s probably a little bit frightened of men, but she’s just the most loving dog — Dusty and her are the best of friends, they sleep together every night, they’re inseparable.”